Winter in Barcelona and Madrid

Amid a pandemic and and harsh winter in Spain, the two greatest Spanish football sides, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are both undergoing extended crises. Both have recently suffered humiliating defeats that have underlined their current low forms and the fact that they increasingly risk ending with no titles this season, something that would be completely unheard of.

FC Barcelona has been in a deep crisis even since before their 2-8 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The drama of Lionel Messi's wish to leave and the changes of managers was already taking a toll on their performance, and the side has struggled in the new season under Ronald Koeman. This culminated in their recent Supercup 2-3 defeat to Athletic Bilbao, which also saw Lionel Messi receive his first ever red card in the Barcelona shirt when he punched an opponent in the last minute of the match. Messi's action appeared as a complete act of desperation, not just at losing at that match, but at the entire situation with the club. While Messi is clearly carrying a non-performing team on his shoulders (he is the most scoring player), he is clearly not happy; and this is not good for Messi, for his teammates, for FC Barcelona, and for football fans in general. FC Barcelona is in need of some renewal, and as of now, it does not appear that it can happen under the current circumstances.

In Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane, who has otherwise been an outstanding manager, seems unable to manage the crisis that culminated with Real Madrid being eliminated in the Copa del Rey by the 2B Division side Alcoyano, in what should otherwise have been a walkover for a team as Real Madrid. The beauty of football is that these results like these do happen (which Zidane also underlined), but it does points to a crisis where Real Madrid's style and player commitment seems shaky. The team appears to depend on Sergio Ramos, the veteran captain, who seems able to inject energy into the side. There has been a lot of talk of Zinedine Zidane losing his job, but perhaps it shows his enormous standing in the club (having won everything there both as player and manager) that he has not been fired yet. But a lot of (justified) questions are being asked about the route the club is taking.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are trailing Atletico Madrid in La Liga, but are still in the last-16 round of the Champions League, where their current form will be tested to the fullest against Atalanta and Paris St. Germain respectively.

The Cup Final weekend

 I had looked forward to a weekend of Cup finals in Monrovia, but was disappointed with two matches that did not live up to expectations, although the outcome was perhaps to be predicted.

I watched the FA Cup final in a small local shop in downtown Monrovia. Atmosphere was not as lively as expected; although Arsenal commands many loyal followers in Liberia, Aston Villa hardly raises any passion.

And it seemed the lack of passion was also on the pitch at Wembley, where Arsenal were far superior to an Aston Villa side that simply seemed to lack the spirit of the FA Cup. 4-0 to Arsenal was good entertainment, but it was not the excitement one has grown accustomed to in the FA Cup final.

The Spanish Cup Final, “Copa del Rey”, I watched in a local bar called Sajj. Most people were there to watch circus Barcelona, with their main magician Lionel Messi, and were not disappointed: Messi scored two goals, the first one spectacular, to give FC Barcelona a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao that was never in any doubt, and that, if anything, could have been much larger. The Basques were a mere sideshow to the Barcelona act, and they never really stood a chance in a match whose result could have been called beforehand.

After a difficult start to the season (do any Barcelona fans remember how they were whistling and attacking Messi at the start of the season?), FC Barcelona are well on the way to winning the Triple if they take the Champions league against Juventus next week. As much as one has to respect Messi's magic and the joy of Suarez and Neymar alongside him, I would prefer to see Buffon and Pirlo lift the trophy next week.

Atletico on top

What a wonderful footballing weekend in Spain: Valencia beat FC Barcelona and Real Madrid managed 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao. This meant that for the first time in a long time, neither of the teams are in first spot in the Spanish league; that honour was taken by wonderful Atletico Madrid, who trashed Real Sociedad 4-0 and are now four points clear of the two favourites.
It is great. Atletico Madrid deserved to be there, and deserves to win the title, showing that you can win it on hard work, discipline and team-spirit, and not just money and superstars.
While I unashamedly admit that I hope Atletico Madrid wins the title, I must admit that I also doubt they will. They still have the two crucial games against their arch-rivals, notably the last round match which will be against FC Barcelona in Barcelona. Besides their fans being fully behind them, FC Barcelona is not unlikely to get a friendly home referee, as such big teams usually do against the little guy....

While I was in Europe

I just spent ten days in Europe: Barcelona, Prague, Brussels and Madrid. I had originally planned to try to go to Munich to the CL final, but when I could not get tickets, I went to Prague and watched the final at the lovely and lively Old Square. It was on the same day where the Czech Republic had played and lost to Slovakia in the semifinal of the hockey World Cup, so there was a disappointed atmosphere under the sun in the square. Still, most places were full as the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea started.
Much bad has been said of Chelsea's defensive style in their defeat of Barcelona, so surely how they played against Bayern Munich cannot be surprising. Chelsea has been reborn under Roberto DiMatteo, so why change style? Surely Bayern Munich was most attacking, but it is also about defending and counterattacking, and Chelsea have proven great at both. Just as we were expecting a home triumph after Thomas Mullers' late goal for Bayern, Didier Drogba scored after Chelsea's first corner kick in the entire match. Undeserved perhaps, but any football fan knew what this meant for Drogba, who again scored in the most important game ever for Chelsea.
Then, that Bayern's great player Arjen Robben could not keep his nerve on the penalty spot, made everyone feel that this would be Chelsea's night after all, and indeed it was: after penalty kicks Chelsea took their first, and well-deserved CL title ever!
Roman Abramovich, the guy that did exactly what I would do if I had a billion dollars, has finally taken the most prestigious prize of all. And he should surely keep Roberto DiMatteo as coach!

 

I was in Madrid on May 25th on the day of the Copa del Rey Final between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Two hours before the match I went to Vicente Calderon Stadium, in part to experience the already lively atmosphere around the stadium, but also to see if it was possible to find some re-sell ticket. The latter was impossible, but surely experienced the lively atmosphere between fans of two teams that were having their last chance to win something this season. FC Barcelona surely would have expected to be somewhere else, but were triumphed by Chelsea and Real Madrid in the CL and Spanish League respectively. In the meantime, Athletic Bilbao had not expected to be so close at the start of the season, but they have surely grown under coach Marcelo Bielsa. They nevertheless lost the Europa League final to Atletico Madrid, and were surely hoping for glory in this match. Before the match started I found a tapas bar to watch it in, and talked with a passionate Bilbao fan who told me with tears in his eyes his memory of Bilbao winning the league as a child, and how for them, this meant much more than for Barcelona fans: "We have the club in our hearts, and we have won nothing for 28 years!"
There really was no contention about the best team of the match though: With two goals by Pedro and one by Lionel Messi, Barcelona was comfortably ahead 3-0 in the first half, and really did not seem to make too much of an effort to win the match in the end. The biggest pleasure of the players was clearly to give coach Josep Guardiola a proper goodbye with yet another title.
A pity for the Bilbao fan I talked to, but he was right about their passion: after the match I saw proud and dignified Bilbao fans all around the streets of Madrid, while Barcelona fans seemed to disappear into bed to sleep over yet another victory of those they are so used to...

Glory for Atletico Madrid

I was on my way back to Caracas from Maturin, perfectly planning to arrive to watch the Europa League final in Bucharest between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. But due to a delay in my flight with Aserca, the match started while I was in the air, and only managed to watch the second half in my local bar "Machangos", where Atletico Madrid was already ahead 2-0 on two great goals by the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who also scored the winner in last years' final, but playing for FC Porto. A great achievement by the striker.  With a goal by the outstanding midfield general Diego, the Madrid side sealed a 3-0 victory against a Bilbao side that had entered the final as favourites, but proved weak and ineffective when it counted. Surely a disappointment for coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has nevertheless lifted the Bilbao side since his arrival, and will still have one more final to fight for when they face FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.
Atletico Madrid did not start the season well, but have also grown under coach Diego Simeone, who must take a lot of credit for the victory.

Champions and records

With a 3-0 away victory against the team of the moment, Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid made sure that their lead is too big to be overtaken by their archrivals of Barcelona to take their 32nd Spanish league title. This was a welcome victory for the team which has trailed the Catalonians for the last three years, and a great triumph for Jose Mourinho, who has now won the title in four different countries, and continues sealing his position as the world's greatest coach.
Real Madrid is now chasing a new record: if they win their last two matches they will reach an impressive 100 points, something the team has never achieved before (although there are 3 points given for a victory since 1996, and more matches than in the 1950s, this would still not have been reached, so it is amazing).
And while archrivals from Barcelona may be on their way down, their little star, Lionel Messi, became the most scoring player in a season in Europe when scoring three goals against Malaga in their 4-1 victory. With 68 goals (combined in the league, cup and Champions League) Messi has surpassed the legendary Gerd Muller who scored 67 goals in the 1972-73 season.

The all-Spanish final

A Spanish team will win a European title in 2012.
If someone had said this a year ago, most people would have probably burst out either Barcelona or Real Madrid, but truth is that neither of these sides will win a European title this season. Instead, Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid will face one another to be the Spanish side to take the title in the UEFA Europa League.
It was certain that at least one Spanish team would make the final when Atletico Madrid faced Valencia in the semifinal, and went through easily, by winning both matches. In the other semifinal, Athletic Bilbao faced Sporting Lisbon. After losing 2-1 in Lisbon, the Basques took the final after a 3-1 victory.
On the way to the final Bilbao has eliminated Manchester United and Schalke 04, and are also fighting for the Spanish Cup title (where they could leave FC Barcelona without titles in 2012). They are surely the team of the moment in Europe, and should not be underestimated! In fact, I think they are the ones most likely to lift the trophy!
In any case, everyone should look forward to this all-Spanish final!

Spanish might

The Spanish League is a boring affair. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the ones always fighting for the title, glory and money, while the rest of the teams are left with the spoils. And one of those spoils is the UEFA Europa League, as the two giants are left to fight for the Champions League title.
The UEFA Europa league is indeed a B-league, where one sees the teams that are simply not strong enough to make it in the Champions League. That said, the Europa League is not devoid of quality or entertainment, and one can look forward to semifinals where three Spanish teams will be fighting for the spoils:

• Valencia-Atletico Madrid
• Sporting Lisbon-Athletic Bilbao 

Valencia is still third in the Spanish league, but has looked unstable of late, something that Atletico Madrid has not; under coach Diego Simeone and a splendid striker in Radamel Falcao (who won the UEFA Europa League last season with FC Porto), Atletico Madrid are looking like a slight favourite.
Another succesful coach (and also from Argentina) is Marcelo Bielsa, who is doing wonders with the talented Basque side of Athletic Bilbao. They are in the Spanish Cup final and after eliminating both Manchester United and Schalke 04 (two teams who were coming from the Champions League) from the tournament, should be counted as favourites against Sporting Lisbon.
I would put money on a purely Spanish final.

A great Bilbao victory

I had not watched the first leg of the UEFA Europa League match where Athletic Bilbao to everyone's surprise defeated Manchester United 2-3 at Old Trafford. Tonight's match, in San Mames in Bilbao, I nevertheless managed to see. And I saw what I had read about: a great Athletic Bilbao team that was superior to a too- disillusioned Manchester side. The 2-1 victory was only too small, and Manchester should thank Wayne Rooney's spectacular late goal for the small comeback.
Seen over the two matches Bilbao has been superior, and it is becoming a very interesting team to follow under the charismatic Marcelo Bielsa. In Bilbao, a team with strong Basque nationalist credentials that only wants players of Basque heritage, Mr. Bielsa has a strong and well-organised youth school that forms the base for creating the type of attacking football that he wants to play. Against Manchester United we have now seen it, and it will be very interesting to see whether over the longer run, Athletic Bilbao can become a much needed challenger to the duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. Personally, I believe that they will be much more likely challengers than teams like Valencia, Malaga or Atletico Madrid.
This closes a bad European season for Manchester United, who is surely not used to being out of European football this early! They still have the Premier League title to fight for, and they are bound to give it all in that fight against the other Manchester team, City.
Manchester City are not going to be busy either though: today they also exited European football after only managing to defeat Sporting Lisbon 3-2, and were eliminated on away goals.

Champions

Some major leagues had their 2008-09 champions decided this weekend.
In the Premier League Manchester United just needed one point against Arsenal to proclaim themselves champions. It was far from the best match by Manchester United, and Arsenal put up at excellent fight, but in the end, 0-0 was enough for the Reds to lift the Premier League trophy for the 18th time.
In Spain Barcelona didn't need to play to become champions: Real Madrid maintained a meager hope that they might be able to catch up with the Catalans, but in their third defeat in a row, Madrid lost 2-3 to Villarreal, and Barcelona are thus unreachable no matter what happens in the last games. After having trashed Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the Copa del Rey final this week, Barcelona is looking to crown an awesome season with the Champions League final in Rome.
A similar thing happened in the Italian Serie A, where AC Milan had to win against Udinese to keep the hope that they might reach Inter Milan. However, Udinese won 2-1, and Inter are thus champions for the 4th time in a row.

Congratulations to all fans of these great teams!

Real Madrid in crisis

Today, the front page of the Spanish newspaper Marca, has a picture of a disappointed Raul, followed by the text "Da pena", meaning that Real Madrid is a team to feel sorry for.
The world's (on paper) best football players lost again, 1-2 to Athletic Bilbao. The team does not attack, does not defend, does not fight. Absolutely nothing works. It is really a disgrace for their fans. At the same time, Valencia and Barcelona are both looking awesome.
I have never been a fan of Real Madrid, but I am surprised at seeing how much a team with the best players in the world, can go down so much. I would be awfully depressed if I was a Real Madrid fan. I am not.
Amunt Valencia!